Are "dress up like you're 100" days ableist/ageist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is weird but not offensive.

Will they dress up as 50 year olds on the 50th day?

You realize that happened 50 days earlier?

What would be more fun would be to have them dress as if it were 100 years ago (or 50 years ago).

[Anonymous]

It's kind of dumb. I don't know of any 100 year old ladies that are still into using curlers in their hair. By that age they don't give a rat's hiney about their looks. One time I looked at pictures of a bunch of centagenarians and you're lucky if you can keep one good feature by that age. You can have eyesight, cheek bones, teeth, or hair, but not more than one of those.

[Anonymous]

I do think using tools that some people use as part of their daily life - glasses/walkers/wheelchairs which are not only reserved for the elderly but can be needed by people of all ages is a little… off. I don’t have an issue with people dressing like grandpa or whatever but leave the accessories out of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this has to be the stupidest stretch of an idea. The 100th day of school was used to teach our K or first grade how to count to 100. They used pins, popcorn, post-its, cereal, etc. and glued the items on a display board to practice counting to 100. I will never understand how dressing up like an old person ever became a ‘thing’. I truly don’t get it at all. In fact, when we grew up, we didn’t even know what day of the school year it was. We didn’t know if it was Day 80 or Day 115. There was no head nod at all to the 100th day. When did that even start? But regardless, using it as a motivator to get kids to count items up to 100 seems acceptable. But, spraying hair gray and walking with a cane should be left for Halloween.

Yes. Schools have lost their minds. It's a missed math learning opportunity. Instead this is more so the teachers can laugh at the kids who look older than they do. Back in my day, school wasn't fun, but at least we learned things. Nowadays schools try to be fun all the time but are not so much into the educational aspect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this has to be the stupidest stretch of an idea. The 100th day of school was used to teach our K or first grade how to count to 100. They used pins, popcorn, post-its, cereal, etc. and glued the items on a display board to practice counting to 100. I will never understand how dressing up like an old person ever became a ‘thing’. I truly don’t get it at all. In fact, when we grew up, we didn’t even know what day of the school year it was. We didn’t know if it was Day 80 or Day 115. There was no head nod at all to the 100th day. When did that even start? But regardless, using it as a motivator to get kids to count items up to 100 seems acceptable. But, spraying hair gray and walking with a cane should be left for Halloween.

Yes. Schools have lost their minds. It's a missed math learning opportunity. Instead this is more so the teachers can laugh at the kids who look older than they do. Back in my day, school wasn't fun, but at least we learned things. Nowadays schools try to be fun all the time but are not so much into the educational aspect.

I’m a 30 something year old millennial who went to a private school in NYC. I definitely remember commemorating the 100th day of school in elementary and we were usually asked to bring 100 of something to share with the class. I brought marshmallows.

[Anonymous]

I'm not crazy about it. My kid's class did it this year-she wore her cardigan and my mom lent her a cane she doesn't use. But we liked the '100 things' project last year better! She stuck 100 chicken stickers on a tshirt (she loves chickens).

My own mom, who is 77, doesn't have coiffed hair or wear housecoats. Granted, she's not 100...

[Anonymous]

My 82 year old mom would be horrified to know this is a thing and to see how the 20, 30, and 40-something parents dress their kids to look “old.”

[Anonymous]

I don’t even understand why they celebrate this. I thought they did it last year in kindergarten because they were learning to count to 100. I didn’t understand they do it every year. What’s the big deal about the 100th day of school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t even understand why they celebrate this. I thought they did it last year in kindergarten because they were learning to count to 100. I didn’t understand they do it every year. What’s the big deal about the 100th day of school?

It's do dumb. I hate all this crap.

[Anonymous]

I saw that complaint on my kids’ school Facebook page. I think it’s ridiculous. There are so so so so many things to worry about, including a lack of a social safety net for the elderly, the average life span dropping, etc. We do not need to stress about this.

If someone told adults to “dress like you’re in 2nd grade” or “dress like a high schooler” or “dress like a nerd” for a party, I really don’t think people would fuss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the current debate at my child's school which recently celebrated 100 days of school.

The floodgates opened on the school FB page, where pictures of the 100th day of school celebration--little kids and teachers with housecoats, grey died hair, canes, walkers, etc. -- were posted and someone set off a firestorm of comments about the appropriateness of it.

Discuss.

Most inappropriate

[Anonymous]

This topic came up at a class meeting about dress-up days when I was in the 7th or 8th grade in the early 90s. Even as early teens, some classmates predicted how it could go off the rails. Powdering one’s hair and drawing in wrinkles could be one thing, but the accessories—orthopedic shoes, glasses, walkers, canes—could easily make things less funny and more ableist. A lot of kids don’t have the discernment to understand where the line between funny contrast and punching down lies. (Honestly, a lot of their parents don’t either.)

[Anonymous]

Ask the president

[Anonymous]

I think it is. My kids’ school had the k and 1st graders make a necklace with 10 groups of 10 beads. This was done as part of a bigger math activity and used school provided materials.

The older kids had a 100 day challenge where they competed to see how many jumping jacks or multiplication problems they could do in 100 seconds. I forget what all the stations were, but there was a variety of choices so that kids with physical challenges and learning disabilities were not excluded. Also the results were written in each kid’s packet they brought home - not shared for the whole class or school to see.

It’s not hard to be fun while also being inclusive and equitable with a bit of creativity!

[Anonymous]

I'm going to go with 'fun'.